Last night, the St. Louis Blues came to town and lost to the Canucks 1-0 in regulation. I wouldn’t consider it the most entertaining game, but it’s far from the most boring I’ve seen either. The most important part of last night was, it stopped the bleeding (momentarily). The seven game losing streak was snapped. Here are a few things I had go through my mind last night before, during and after the game with the Blues.

Ryan Kesler Injury: When David Backes gave the injury report to the Vancouver media, it was a little upsetting to hear that Kesler is far more hurt than originally thought. Backes made it sound like Kesler might have suffered a broken hand from the Olympics.

Ryan Kesler Trade Rumour: Still a big topic today, Kesler was rumoured (by Louis Jean @LouisJean_TVA) to have asked to be traded earlier on in the season. The rampant speculation as to why he wants to be traded range from personal family reasons, not liking playing for Tortorella, not wanting to be in Vancouver anymore due to team decline…the list goes on. The one constant for those said by Kesler, his agent were the reports are false and his agent even went as far to call it “BS”. GM Mike Gillis did not confirm or deny any sort of trade talks involving Kesler.

Kassian, Richardson, Booth: The most noticeable line out for the Canucks vs the Blues last night. Booth and Kassian both had their moments driving to the net, making some fancy plays and had a lot of jump in their game. All of that would not have been possible if not for the solid play along the boards and away from the puck to create space for them by Richardson.

Olympians: So players from both teams were recognized pre-game for their Olympic participation and accomplishments. It was great to hear Bouwmeester and Pietrangelo great a rousing ovation for their contributions for team Canada before the Canucks, Luongo and Hamhuis got theirs. Swedish Canucks players, Edler and Daniel Sedin had solid games. Their Olympic play crept into their play for their club team.

Eddie: Although spectacular when he had to be, Eddie Lack stopped 20 of 20 shots to get his third NHL shutout this season, the best save of the night had to go to another, Eddie, Alex Edler.

One Was Enough, For Now: Jannik Hansen scored the only goal of the game. with a heads up pass from Sestito and a burst of speed from Hansen himself. Here is the GoPro view of it from Halak’s net.

Sedinery: Although it hasn’t come back to what Canucks fans have been accustomed to, I saw flashes of it last night with Burrows. I have full confidence, as does John Tortorella, this could be a spark to the last stretch of the team’s season. Daniel and Burrows need to score, regularly to get this on the right track.

Diaz is the New Salo: Alex Edler has seemed to have calmed down again. I give a lot of that credit to the work and play of Raffi Diaz and his new found partner in Edler. Hopefully as this continues, we just might see All-Star Edler once again, instead of “All Star” Edler.

Oh Captain, My Captain: Looks like Hank is back closer to 100% in regards to his rib injury. He looked confident and rested out there. The Olympic break was just what he needed.

Powerplay Tools: …and a Hammer isn’t one of them. I am not quite sure what the coaches are thinking when Dan Hamhuis on the PP with Garrison at the other point. Hamhuis does a lot of things a defenceman should do well, but QB’ing a PP isn’t one of them. I dare say even Bieksa would be a better choice in the matter. Perhaps rethinking the backend of the PP is something that needs to be revisited by the team and the coaching staff. Find something or someone that has more to offer from the blue line than Hammer…like a rifle like shot?

Hansen scores only goal in game on Halak.

Not a bad way to get back into writing about our Canucks and a win after the Olympic break. Catch you on Friday in an all important game versus the Wild. Boy, when was that ever an issue in the last decade.

Justine Galo

@Aviewfromabroad

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About Justine Galo

Justine has been with Canucks Corner since its inception as a member of the forums and has been writing here since 2008. Justine is an avid Canucks road game traveller and has visited 27 of the 30 NHL arenas in the league watching the Canucks and hopes to complete the last three in the near future.